The gales of fall will subside into the crisp winds of a west coast winter. Icy decks will greet me as I set sail between home and the cottage. Here too I will notice the coming of spring as the days increase in length and the tides start their convergence to summer patterns. Low tides happen mostly at night in the winter and rubber boots are the footwear of choice to traverse the mud flats of summer.
But still there is time for stillness and reading stories, time for cozy fires and visiting with family and friends, time to write a little here and there. We have finished "Spinners Inlet" which I read to My Love mostly one small chapter at a time while she drifted off to dreamland each night. She is now re-reading "Running From Safety" and we are both enjoying "First You Must Row a Little Boat" which she reads to me as I lay on my belly to open my spine just before falling asleep. I am excited about the good news stories of "Hope, Human and Wild", particularly the story about the City of Curitiba. My latest quantum physics book, "Entanglement" is also very well written and a joy to explore. Finally I have found some new answers in my quest to seek a solution to mother's challenge with diabetes and heart "disease" in a book called "The Carbohydrate Addict's Healthy Heart Program".
It has been a year of expanding ideas and shrinking consumption. I have pretty much gone Vegan this year and in combination with the physical activity associated with walking and riding my bike feel better than I have since I was in my early 20s. I have trimmed every last bit of fat off my bones and now am concentrating on replacing it with some added muscle mass for glucose storage. Speaking of bikes I can't begin to share with you all the positive benefits of trading my car in for a bike. Its been almost three years now that Laura and I have gone "carless" and many of you have heard me sing this song before. The money we save, the contact we make with our community, the support we extend to our neighbours and their businesses, the physical fitness that results and the pride and self respect we earn for ourselves every time we hop on knowing that we are doing the right thing.... It is a powerful lifestyle choice indeed. In fact it is that choice that has made it possible for My Love to retire from her profession as an Audiologist and spend the next few months looking at alternatives to the 9 to 5 routine. As for me it has given me the opportunity to live so frugally that I only need to devote two days a week to earning money and can devote the rest of my time living my live and caring for the things and people I love.
One of the expanding ideas that has taken root in my mind is that of implementing change. We all want a better world for ourselves and our children it seems but our opinions vary widely on what constitutes that better world. For some its still a bigger house or car but for many of us its increasingly a better quality of life, closer community ties, more time for family and friends. Having found a lifestyle that far exceeds the beauty and joy of my wildest dreams only a few short years ago I sometimes have a burning desire to share what I have found. Sometimes I get so enthusiastic that I am overbearing to the poor souls around me. But more and more I have realized that my focus is best directed at just living my dream life each day to its fullest. The love, the joy, the gratitude for a limited time on a this breathtaking planet, teaming with life, where the most precious commodity of all falls from the sky, just living this experience consciously each day is my gift.
I use my web site to share ideas but mostly I know that each of us has chosen to experience our own version of the reality we call life. So live, experience, share your joy with your loved ones, treasure the time you have together but most of all don't forget to love. Love all that you are and all that you do. Love is the power and the glory of life itself. Love Is.
On a Beam of Light
December 21st, 2003
